Crazy In Love With Conway

On November 9th, 10th, and 11th of 1970, country music history was made when Conway & Loretta held their first recording session as a duet at Bradley's Barn. These sessions resulted in the 11 songs that would make up their first album,  We Only Make Believe ,  Lead Me On , the title song and only single from their second album, and lastly a song that some fans may not be aware of,  Four Glass Walls . Four Glass Walls  was written by Sharon Higgins, one of the many women who moved to Music City in the 1960s to pursue a dream. She was quickly signed to an artist development deal with the Wilburn Brothers and achieved great success as a songwriter in 1969 with  Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone) , a #1 hit for Loretta Lynn, earning Higgins the BMI Citation of Achievement. In the fall of 1971 Four Glass Walls became the non-LP "B" side to Lead Me On , Conway & Loretta's second #1 single. For US fans, purchasing the 45 record was the only way to hear this

Over the years Conway has been featured numerous times in the British rock & roll magazine  Now Dig This . He's been the subject of cover stories, in depth articles, album and box set reviews. They even reprinted the transcript of his six-hour radio special  Heartthrob: Then and Now  from 1981, which was a highlight for me until I was able to track down a copy of the entire show. (Six hours of Conway interviews = Heaven.) It's always exciting (and rare) when something "new" on Conway becomes available, so I was very pleased to learn that a "vintage interview" with him would be featured in this month's issue (#460, July 2021). It's actually a reprint of an interview that was originally published in the August/September 1970 issue of  Rockville International  magazine, and was conducted over the course of two meetings with Conway in Amsterdam and Sweden during his April 1970 European tour.  What's odd is that a mere 5 years removed from his r

As we prepare to celebrate America's birthday this weekend, how many of these facts about the patriotic hymn  God Bless America Again  did you know? 1) Written by Bobby Bare and Boyce Hawkins, the song has been covered by countless artists from Tex Ritter to Ray Charles, but Conway and Loretta actually recorded it twice. Doyle Wilburn did the recitation part when it was initially recorded as the title track of Loretta's third gospel album. By the time the record was released in 1972 Conway & Loretta's wildly successful partnership had begun so Doyle's voice was replaced with Conway's. The album doesn't even credit him.  2) In 1976 they recorded the song again for their  United Talent  album, and it became the "B" side of their hit  The Letter . Though it didn't chart it received significant airplay due to its release during the United States Bicentennial. 3) Concert goers in the early days of Conway & Loretta's shows together (1971/72 e